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August 18, 2015

Just a few short weeks ago I spent 5 days in New York City
at the annual Romance Writers of

America annual conference. I get just as excited about it as I do
Christmas. Every year I anxiously await
the workshops to be posted, then I go through the list carefully deciding what
sounds good. Then, when the workshops
are posted by day and time, I do it again.
Invariably and without fail, I end up with at least two for each time
slot. I make the final decision as to
which to attend once I know whether it will be recorded or not. Or, if the presenter is someone I want to
hear in person.

This is a time of fun, fellowship, friendship, motivation
and inspiration. I always come home
rejuvenated and ready to write. And this
year was no different.

One of the best things at the conference this year: I met an
author I’ve been a fan of for many years, one who hasn’t ever been at a conference
that I’ve attended. Jude Devereaux! I met her at the

Literacy Signing on
Wednesday night and was so excited to get my picture taken with her. Then I attended the workshop she gave on
Research on Thursday. Would you believe
she keeps a notebook for each book (as I do, actually) AND she writes in
longhand! The next day my BFF and I were
waiting at the elevator on our floor, and who should walk up but Ms. Devereaux
and her editor! It’s the one time I was
glad the elevators took a long time because we had her to ourselves. So we chatted about various things, and it’s
a memory I’ll always cherish.

The workshops were amazing once again. I’m still concentrating mostly on Craft workshops,
always willing to learn and hone my writing skills. Oh, who am I kidding? I attend Craft workshops

wanting to learn
that BIG SECRET, the one that will suddenly make writing easier so I’m as
prolific as Nora Roberts.

My best friend and fellow Plotting Princess Sasha lives in San Antonio, so we don’t get to see
each other very often – we were roomies once again this year. We had some late nights in New York: hitting
the Walgreens in Times Square at midnight, taking the sightseeing bus tour at
10 pm on Friday, then going for cheesecake and ice

cream sodas (both delicious
and amazing at Juniors) at midnight, then staying up even later plotting and
dissecting our works in

progress. Again,
memories I’ll always treasure.

I love attending RWA conferences. Where else can you spend
hours talking about characters as if they’re flesh and blood people? You’re surrounded by two thousand other
writers who know what you’re going through; they’ve struggled with writer’s
block, had problems coming up with the perfect goals, motivations, and
conflicts for their characters, sweated to get every word right just as much as
you have. And someone there might just
have the perfect place to stash the body of your antagonist.

And this time I came away with an idea for a project I’m
keeping secret for right now.

As an author, if you’ve attended nationals, what’s your
favorite part of the conference? For readers,
what questions do you have for authors who attend conferences?

Hi Sloane! I was bummed I couldn't got to RWA this year. It's always such a motivating event and you come back ready to dive into your next project, although you're physically exhausted from all the fun you're having at the conference.

Thanks for the insight about what I missed. I'm looking forward to listening to all the stuff I missed and learning new things to take my writing to the next level.

Suzanne, you don't like a cold room and she does, which is why she's my BFF. HAHAHAHAHAYou're in the running, but you have to be nice to me!So glad you and Tim were able to go to New York as well. We all had a great time!